David West’s decision to stay in Indiana maintains the Pacers’ status as second-best in the East

In Part One of our countdown of the NBA’s top movers this summer, we reviewed the likely impacts of the arrivals of Carl Landry, Jose Calderon, JR Smith and others in their new (or old) destinations.

While each of those players brings an impactful signing to their new club, the men we have left on the list are all potential season-altering deals. Here are the top ten free agents most likely to shape the 2013-14 NBA season…

University of Kentucky teammates Anthony Davis (left) and MIchael Kidd-Gilchrist followed up their NCAA crown by becoming the top two overall picks in the 2012 NBA Draft (Image | SMTDaily.com)

There was plenty of pre-season hype surrounding the Draft Class of 2012 when the draft was made back in June. The likes of number one pick Anthony Davis and his new New Orleans teammate Austin Rivers (#10 pick), Charlotte’s Michael Kidd-Gilchrist (#2), Portland duo Meyers Leonard (#11) and particularly Damian Lillard (#6), and a host of others have already made their mark on the league in the new season.

Given that the season started just one month after the NBA’s damaging and embarrassing lockout ended, and that teams had one week for training camp (not two) and two preseason games (not the usual six or seven), it was unavoidable, even expected, that there would be injuries around the league – but boy are they coming thick and fast. Already, Miami’s Big Two-and-a-Half has been reduced to the Big One-and-a-Half, as Dwyane Wade struggles with various nagging leg injuries, and on one occasion, even the Big Half as LeBron James joined his running mate on the sidelines and left Chris Bosh to lead an otherwise rather short Miami roster. (As a Bosh sympathiser, if not supporter, I feel obliged to point out that he had a massive game – 33 points, 14 rebounds, 5 assists and 2 blocks – to lead the Heat to victory over the Hawks.)